The Returned shows subtitles can make it in the mainstream

Victor from The Returned is giving nothing away, not even his attractive burgundy sweater (Picture: Jean-Claude Lother)

TV review: The love that is flowing for The Returned (C4) surely kicks into touch the idea that subtitled dramas only attract a niche audience.

Yes, the trail has been blazed by The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen, but they were tucked away on BBC4. Full credit to C4 for trusting that the quality of The Returned could play to a primetime audience: it’s a gamble that’s paying off handsomely.

The Returned unpeels its secrets like a bashful artichoke, so it’s tough to talk about it without falling into the spoiler trap. (French for spoiler: Le spoiler.)

But the opening scene of last night’s episode was an eye-opener, giving us a glimpse of the tautly strung Dr Julie in her former life as a feeling feline party animal.

No one and nothing is as it seems in The Returned, Julie more than anyone, and I’d share my theory on who the little boy Victor (played by Swann Nambotin, left) is but, like his, my lips are sealed.